Practical Feminism and Practical Magic

Intriguing duo, isn’t it?

When I was completely lost – while on the traditionally prescribed and very appropriate path – these two saved me.

Doing all the lovely and just right things – sweet marriage, business of my own, new baby, home owner, organic gardener, family member and friend – I found myself being chewed up and spit out by the illusion of vast freedom for me as a woman in a culture quite unsympathetic and even unaware of the needs of women.

Yes, definitely, we have way more freedom and opportunities than women in the last several thousand years and in most places around the world today. My deep gratitude goes to the women and supportive men who have made this possible.

And, there is still a very un-level playing field in this county. We still have a very long way to go. And we need very practical tools for living the freedom we do have while on the lopsided field of our lives.

Tools for what, you ask?

For figuring out how to be a woman of power in a culture that still, on many levels, is threatened by women of power.

To know, own, and go for what we really want.

For having brilliant, loving, and sure boundaries.

To be proactive and in choice, rather than always reacting.

To get our needs met as well as those of our loved ones and all other team members.

For getting past the relentless inner critic that lives to devour our dreams and convince us we are not now, nor will we ever be, good enough.

For holding onto our true selves when the world continues to imagine us to be someone or something else.

For living from our hearts and souls in a world that rewards the linear, the measurable, the standard way of operating.

For charting our own course, following our own north star, using our values and dreams for a map and compass, for doing things our way, despite constant pressure to follow the path someone else has planned for us.

To acknowledge and appreciate our personal leadership style and life style and optimum way of moving through the world.

So what does MAGIC have to do with anything?

Dion Fortune defines magic as the art of shifting consciousness at will.

Shifting consciousness, shifting the frame, shifting our focus, shifting the story so as to reveal that which is even more true than the limiting surface way of perceiving – that’s all part of practical magic for me.

The stories we tell ourselves about who we are and what we’re up to make all the difference in the world.

Just some of what practical magic is all about includes:

Honoring intuition, synchronicity, and “flirts” from the Universe.

Recognizing that the “unseen” matters, like heart and soul and feelings.

Practical feminism and practical magic are aspects of 3 level coaching – the kind of coaching I do that recognizes that making changes in our lives takes more that a goal and a list of action steps. We are complex and interconnected. We are capable and resourceful and resilient. As women much of our personal power comes from those aspects of us that our culture often denigrates.